Roger Hayden (Prime Earth)

Roger Hayden was a member of the Twenty, a group of citizens from Metropolis infected with a psionic virus by Brainiac. As a result, Hayden developed powerful psychic talents, principally the ability to alter and control the emotions of others.^[1]

Psi War

Hayden and several other psychics were soon abducted and imprisoned by the H.I.V.E. Queen, another member of the Twenty and zealous devotee of Brainiac. The Queen harvested the psionic energy from her victims to power H.I.V.E.'s operation to mentally enslave the human race in preparation for Brainiac's return to Earth. Hayden eventually managed to escape and sought out the Medusa Mask, a fabled artifact that could grant him protection from the Queen. Equipping the Medusa Mask vastly enhanced Hayden's already considerable psychic power, and he adopted the identity of the Psycho-Pirate.^[2]

Roger Hayden (Prime Earth) 0002 — Psycho-Pirate is born

Psycho-Pirate easily bested the H.I.V.E. Queen and Hector Hammond, who were waging war against Superman and each other for control of Metropolis. Psycho-Pirate sought instead to free the citizens of Metropolis from their mental shackles and create a city governed by pure, unbridled emotion. He used his power to incite a city-wide riot, driving the Metropolitans mad, but was ultimately thwarted by the combined powers of the Queen, Hammond, and a psionically-endowed Lois Lane, allowing Superman to pry the Medusa Mask from Psycho-Pirate and destroy it. Psycho-Pirate disappeared shortly thereafter before he could be apprehended.^[3]

I Am Gotham

Roger Hayden (Prime Earth) 0003 — Unleashed upon Gotham

Sometime later, a cowed and psychologically fragile Roger Hayden came into the custody of Amanda Waller, who enlisted the services of Hugo Strange to bring him to heel.^[4] Waller had been tasked with restoring order to Gotham City, and she believed Psycho-Pirate would provide the means to do so. Strange betrayed Waller, however, and began pursuing his own mysterious agenda with the Psycho-Pirate at his side. At Strange's behest, Psycho-Pirate used his power to infect Gotham City's newest heroes--Gotham and Gotham Girl--with extreme levels of anger and fear respectively.^[5] Strange ultimately offered Psycho-Pirate to Bane in exchange for a large quantity of Venom--a key ingredient to Strange's Monster Men formula.^[6]^[7]

I Am Suicide

Roger Hayden (Prime Earth) 0004 — At Bane's side

Psycho-Pirate was brought to Santa Prisca to support Bane after the latter swore off Venom. The Pirate used his power of emotional manipulation to provide Bane happiness and a sense of bravery as he wrestled with his dark, painful past. Their partnership was short-lived, however. Realizing that only Psycho-Pirate could undo the psychological damage wrought upon Gotham Girl, Batman organized a team of specialists to invade Santa Prisca and extract the Pirate.^[8] Among the enlisted operatives was the Ventriloquist, whose fractured mind proved beyond Psycho-Pirate's capacity to control. The Pirate was subdued by Wesker and returned to Gotham.^[9]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Enhanced Intellect: As one of the Twenty, Psycho-Pirate was infected with a psionic virus that elevated his intellect to the 12th Level.^[10]
- Cosmic Awareness^[11]
- Empathy
  - Emotional Control
    - Fear Projection^[12]

Weaknesses

Mental Disorder^[1]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Medusa Mask: Psycho-Pirate has utilized two separate incarnations of the Medusa Mask. The first was a powerful artifact stolen from the Metropolis Museum of Art that imbued Psycho-Pirate with godlike psychic abilities.^[1] It was seemingly destroyed by Superman following the Pirate's assault on Metropolis.^[3] The second version of the Medusa Mask is a tool through which Psycho-Pirate apparently channels his ability to influence emotions.^[11]
- Deflection^[3] (Formerly)
- Energy Absorption^[1] (Formerly)
- Energy Construct Creation (Formerly)
- Illusion Casting^[13] (Formerly)
- Omnipresence^[1] (Formerly)
- Psychic Link^[13] (Formerly)

Notes

Roger Hayden was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, first appearing in Showcase #56. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Roger Hayden first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Superboy (Volume 6) #23 by Justin Jordan and Marcus To.

Roger Hayden (Prime Earth)

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History